Today's cost of living package has been bizarrely blasted as being "as targeted as a Darwin Nunez shot from outside the box".
Labour Finance Spokesperson Ged Nash heaped criticism on the cost of living payments announced today, which include a €200 lump sum for social welfare recipients. He also blasted the processing of the additional child benefit payment, which will not be accessible until June.
The politician added that a Labour government would have approved a full double welfare payment, as well as an additional month's worth of child benefit payments. He said that the government were in "self-congratulatory mode" as a result of the announcements before comparing the package to Liverpool's talented but erratic Uruguayan striker.
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Deputy Nash said: "We need real and long-lasting measures that increases the income of low paid workers and those on social welfare on an ongoing basis. This package is as targeted as a Darwin Nunez shot from outside the box.
"Who dreamed up the idea that a €200 social welfare bonus was better than an additional full rate weekly payment, or that a child benefit payment of €100 beats the €140 standard monthly payment? This is an insult to those on social welfare- Ministers should publish the material that informed their decisions, otherwise we can conclude this is a political package, and not one based on robust public policy."
However, the Licensed Vintners Association have welcomed the recent cost of living package following the retention of the 9.5% VAT rate. The 13.5% rate will not come into effect until after the busy summer season.
CEO Donal O'Keefe said publicans across the country would be "breathing a sigh of relief" following the positive news. The LVA also approved of the Government's extension of the Business Energy Support Scheme, which assisted businesses with hefty gas and electricity bills this year.
There are currently 250,000 people employed in hospitality in Ireland. Hospitality figureheads said that the cost of living supports reflected the additional pressures facing the sector.
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